Hampshire County Council – Evaluation of Strengthening Parental Conflict Programme

We were commissioned (November 2023) by Hampshire County Council (HCC) to conduct a nine-month evaluation of the Strengthening Parental Relationships programme (SPR) – nationally known as the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme. The evaluation focused on the effectiveness of the programme and the extent to which support is embedded into everyday practice.

A mixed method approach was taken to ensure that both qualitative and qualitative evidence underpinned the evaluation. This included:

• Interviews with project leads
• Interviews with the different providers of intensive support (Family Counselling, Couple Support and Mediation)
• Focus groups and interviews with frontline practitioners across different agencies (e.g. education, social care, NHS)
• Workforce survey
• Parent interviews
• Review of case studies from practitioners
• Review of quantitative data

The expertise within the evaluation team ensured that the methodology was responsive to the changing needs of the local authority and providers. A series of recommendations were made to support embedding the programme to maximise its impact for families. Following the report, the local authority requested that Interface present findings to the Early Help Partnership Board to support development of the next steps for the programme.